Almost Summer

            With Memorial Day this past Monday I only had one after school class on Tuesday. Izzy was unable to come so Meghan was all by herself. She got a lot accomplished. She finished the zigzagging of the pieces for her capris, did the center front and back seams and the two side seams. She opted not to do the slits in the side seams. She will decide whether or not to put in a drawcord. The drawcord is more decorative than functional since the capris have elastic in the waist. As these are going to be pajama bottoms she might opt out of the drawcord. I try to instill in the girls that you don't always have to do things the way the pattern is designed. That is the joy of sewing for yourself, it can be made the way YOU want it.

          Along those same lines I am working on a Mother of the Bride dress for a client. She had seen a photo in a magazine that she liked. She bought a pattern that was very similar and then fabric in a color she wanted. I altered the pattern to accommodate her height and slender figure. She tried on the muslin last week and I made a few more minor alterations to the pattern and will cut out and sew the lining. I will have her fit it one more time before cutting out the face fabric and lace. What a joy to have something that is just for you.

           We had a busy weekend working out, working in the garden and having some family over for dinner on Monday. Had to cover the cherry trees in the back yard because there was a robin that was intent on eating the cherries even before they fully ripened. It is quite comical to watch the process. It involves two nets we have sewn together with twine, four long poles and my husband up on the garage roof. I am so thankful for the help from our daughter and son-in-law. You definitely need more than two people to do this. And the best part about their help is they only ask for payment in the form of cherries.

Defining Goals

   Just finished another group session with Peak Performance Action Coach. These coaching sessions have really helped me to define where I want my business to go. Now need to spend more time working on my business.

    After school sessions are winding down. Julia missed this week, not sure if she was sick or not. Lauren has the facings done on her nightshirt and is working on putting on the sleeves. Ellen has her back slit denim skirt all zigzagged and the center back seam and slit done. She is working on the tab part right now. Hayley has the casings just about done on her peasant nightgown and will be ready for elastic next time.

    Izzy finished the casings on her peasant nightgown and inserted the elastic in one sleeve already. Meghan cut out a pair of flannel capris that she will wear for pajamas. She is going to make a top also to match.

    I finished sewing new pockets onto 4 pairs of jeans for a client that wanted deeper pockets. She was thrilled. To quote her email, "Ohhhh, Celeste! These are soooo NICE! THANK YOU!!!!" Love to be able to solve problems for people. Monday did some fittings to 'fix' some evening dresses for pageant wear.

    Had a great weekend celebrating the upcoming wedding of a dear friend's daughter. Too bad I will miss the actual wedding due to another wedding. Sunday I did a 9 mile run followed by a 32 mile bike ride later. It was our first Super Dawg trip for the season. Hope we can get in a few more with all the other training we are doing this year. My next race is in a couple of weeks.

Mid May Kids Can Sew

    Here is Ellen and her first projects she finished. She has cut out a back slit denim skirt and hopes to finish it before we break for the summer. Julia finished her shorts which turned out really cute with the upturned hems.

    Lauren has started work on her nightshirt. We had to take off the pocket because she forgot to open up the fabric piece before sewing it on. Not a big problem, we all laughed about it. Hayley is working on the casings now for the elastic for her peasant nightgown.









   Izzy has her side seams done on her peasant nightgown and will start on the elastic casings next week. And finally last but not least here is Meghan in her pretty floral dress. She opted not to make the matching belt but will be going to the store to find some pretty contrasting ribbon to use as a belt.

     It was so exciting to have so many finished projects in one week. That is what I really like about summer camp sewing. In a weeks time we get so many finished projects.

   
      We had a wonderful Mother's Day celebration here at the house this past Sunday. After a 7 mile run in the morning we joined our daughter and her husband, our youngest son and his wife at my mom's church for 9:30 Mass. My mom did the second reading. We then came back to our house where I made brunch complete with mimosas. So much more relaxing than waiting in line at a restaurant.

      Brunch almost did not happen however. On Friday evening, just after finishing warming up some bread, the wall ovens went out. No power at all. On Saturday morning my wonderfully talented hubby called a repair man to come look at it. After a couple of phone calls my hubby was able to diagnose the problem, find the part and install it by noon. So grateful to have someone so talented. Thanks to him we were able to have overnight French toast and bacon egg cups for brunch the next morning.

Gearing up for Summer Camps

    Things are really coming together for summer camps. The camps are all planned, most samples are made and the web advertising is all in place. Working on a brochure to be dropped off at area libraries and other places. Looking forward to sharing my love of sewing with a bunch of new kids this summer.

    Julia is almost done with her shorts. She has chosen to turn the wrong side of the fabric to the outside of the shorts thereby creating was looks like a solid navy band sewn onto the bottom of the polka dot shorts. I never thought of doing that but it is going to look really cute. Lauren bought fabric to make a nightshirt. Unfortunately the book didn't have her buy enough so her sleeves will be a little short. Ellen just has to put the laces into her sewing bag and she will be able to sew her belt next week and get started on another project. She was looking forward to going shopping for fabric. Hayley has the sleeves and attached to the front and back of her peasant nightgown and is working on the side seams.

     Izzy finished cutting out and zigzagging the pieces for her peasant nightgown. She will start putting it together next week. Meghan is working on setting in the sleeves into her dress. One is in fine, the other needs some tweaking. I taught her how to hem the sleeves with the blindhem stitch on the machine. She is anxious to use this technique for the bottom hem also.

    I am just about done with the mesh panels for an outdoor tent and will start on a bias cut wedding dress next. It is the fitting that will be a challenge.

    I am all recovered from the half marathon in Nashville and now training for the Northshore half on June 10th. Last year I missed breaking 2 hours by only 2 seconds, I finished it in 2:00:01. I am hoping to break that 2 hour mark this year. Then comes the duathlon and marathon training.. Should be a busy summer.

May is Here

Here is Izzy proudly showing off the nightshirt she just finished. She had previously made pants from the pig print flannel. She then made this cute nightshirt to match by adding bands of the pig print on the sleeves and lower hem. She used a decorative stitch to put on the bands. She did a great job. Now she is working on a peasant nightgown. She says she is stocking up on pajamas:-)

    In Monday's class Julia is working on her shorts, next step is the hems. Lauren finished her other throw pillow and started work on a pillowcase because she didn't have fabric for her next project. She said her mom is looking for her to make some pillows for her next. Ellen and Hayley were both sick, poor girls.

    In Tuesday's class Meghan is starting work on the sleeves for her pretty floral dress.

    I have had several inquiries about summer sewing camps. So far sign-ups are slow but I think people are still trying to get things organized for the summer. I am excited about the projects I have chosen.

    Things have been busy for me both business and personal wise. I have several projects in the works including sewing mesh panels for a tent. I was off for a few days because we went to Nashville for me to run a half marathon. This is my fifth year doing it and the third time I have done it with my daughter. Last year my goal was to break 2 hours which I did with about 15 seconds to spare. This year we just wanted to finish strong and come close to the 2 hour mark. We started the race together but at about the halfway point I told her to go ahead. She has gotten to be a faster runner than me this past year so I told her to go for it. She took off and I kept her in sight for another couple of miles and then lost track of her.
   
      When I got to the 12 and a half mile mark where we almost lost it last year the same band was playing the same song that got me to finish strong last year. I took this as a good omen and pressed on. I wound up finishing with a time of 1:57:45 which was good enough for second place in my age group. Jennifer finished more than a minute and a half ahead of me so we both did well. Another great race. I do love the Nashville course and the people are all so great.